White-Tailed Deer

Michigan State Game Animal

White-tailed deer fawn; mammal symbol of twelve states. Photo by Mark / Making You Think Photography/Flickr(Noncommercial Use Permitted with Attribution).

Official State Game Animal of Michigan

Michigan designated white-tailed deer as the official state game animal in 1997. Zeeland fourth-graders campaigned to include the white-tailed deer among Michigan's official state symbols. All State Mammals

An animal of incredible beauty and power, white-tailed deer are able to run up to 40 miles per hour, jump 9 foot fences, and swim 13 miles per hour. The white underside of its tail is waved when running and flashed as a warning when danger is sensed. Both native Americans and settlers relied on the white-tailed deer for buckskin and food.

Twelve states have designated white-tailed deer as a state symbol: Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.